Reference
Glossary
Every OpenSpec term, one line each.
OpenSpec reuses words that mean something else in git, CI, and agent tooling. Each row gives the OpenSpec meaning; the last column links to the page that teaches the term.
| Term | Definition | More |
|---|---|---|
| Apply | Implement the tasks in a change proposal. Skill: openspec-apply-change. | Apply a change |
| Archive | Complete a change proposal: merge its deltas into the main specs and move its folder to openspec/changes/archive/. | Quickstart |
| Artifact | A planning document inside a change proposal: proposal.md, delta specs, design.md, tasks.md. Not a build output. | Concepts |
| Capability | One behavior area of your system; each has one spec at openspec/specs/<capability>/spec.md. | Concepts |
| Change proposal | One unit of work: a folder under openspec/changes/<name>/ holding its planning artifacts. Often shortened to "change"; not a git commit. | Concepts |
| Command | A typed entry point for a workflow. Spelling varies per tool (/opsx:propose, /opsx-propose); the docs name workflows by skill instead. | Supported tools |
| Continue | Create the next planning artifact for an existing change proposal. Skill: openspec-continue-change. | Skills |
| Delivery | How workflows are installed: as skills, commands, or both. | Set up your project |
| Delta spec | A spec inside a change proposal listing only what changes, under ADDED, MODIFIED, REMOVED, and RENAMED headers. | Delta specs |
| Explore | Think an idea through with the agent before proposing; writes no code. Skill: openspec-explore. | Explore an idea |
| Fast-forward | Create a change proposal with every planning artifact in one pass, ready to implement. Skill: openspec-ff-change. Not a git fast-forward. | Skills |
| Legacy workflow | The pre-OPSX /openspec:* commands. | Migration |
| Loop | The cycle a change proposal moves through: explore, propose, review, apply, archive. | Quickstart |
| Main specs | The openspec/specs/ tree: the current, agreed behavior of your system. Archiving merges deltas into it. | Concepts |
| OpenSpec root | The openspec/ tree a command resolves to and operates on: your repo's, or a store's. | Stores |
| OPSX | The current OpenSpec workflow system, and the command prefix it installs (/opsx:). | Architecture |
| Profile | Which workflows init installs: core or custom. | Profiles |
| Propose | Create a change proposal and generate all its planning artifacts in one step. Skill: openspec-propose. | Quickstart |
| Registry | The machine-level list of registered stores, in registry.yaml. Not a package registry. | Stores |
| Requirement | One behavior the system must have, written with SHALL: ### Requirement: in a spec. | Delta specs |
| Scenario | A testable example under a requirement, in WHEN/THEN form. | Delta specs |
| Schema | The definition of which artifacts a change proposal produces, and in what order. Not JSON Schema. | Schemas |
| Skill | A workflow's instructions, installed where your AI tool reads them (.agents/skills/, ...). | Skills |
| Spec | A file describing how one capability behaves today, at openspec/specs/<capability>/spec.md. | Concepts |
| spec-driven | The default schema: proposal, then delta specs, then design, then tasks. | spec-driven |
| Store | A standalone OpenSpec repo registered on your machine, for planning that spans repositories. Not a data store. | Stores (beta) |
| Sync | Merge implemented deltas into the main specs without archiving. Skill: openspec-sync-specs. | Skills |
| Template | The starting content a schema gives each artifact. | Schemas |
| Update | As a skill (openspec-update-change): revise a change proposal's planning artifacts. As a CLI command (openspec update): refresh OpenSpec's installed files. | Change course, CLI |
| Verify | Check the implementation matches a change proposal's artifacts before archiving. Skill: openspec-verify-change. | Skills |
| Workflow | A named OpenSpec action (propose, apply, archive, ...), installed into your AI tool as a skill or command. | Set up your project |
| Workset | A personal, local group of folders opened together in one tool. Not a store; nothing is shared. | CLI |